Plot
Five years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.
Release Year: 2007
Rating: 6.7/10 (36,704 voted)
Critic's Score: 48/100
Director:
David Schwimmer
Stars: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Storyline Dennis is a clueless and slightly overweight guy, who left his pregnant fiancée five years earlier. Every day, Dennis tries to persuade the woman he loves to accept him back into his life, but everyday he fails. When he discovers that Libby has found a partner in the form of American Whit, frustration grows, and Dennis vows, that for once in his life, he will finish something. This something ends up being a Nike River-run in London. With his friends Gordon and Mr. Ghoshdashtidar by his side, Dennis begins training for the marathon he must finish.
Writers: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg
Cast: Simon Pegg
-
Dennis
Thandie Newton
-
Libby
Hank Azaria
-
Whit
Dylan Moran
-
Gordon
Harish Patel
-
Mr. Goshdashtidar
India de Beaufort
-
Maya Goshdashtidar
Matthew Fenton
-
Jake
Simon Day
-
Vincent
Ruth Sheen
-
Claudine
Tyrone Huggins
-
Grover
Nevan Finegan
-
Mickey
Iddo Goldberg
-
News Reporter
Ameet Chana
-
Taxi Driver
Chris Hollins
-
Himself
Denise Lewis
-
Herself
Taglines:
Love. Commitment. Responsibility. There's nothing he can't run away from.
Filming Locations: Cannons Health Club, Endell Street, Covent Garden, London, England, UK
Opening Weekend: £2,010,250
(UK)
(9 September 2007)
(413 Screens)
Gross: $19,585,967
(Worldwide)
(14 October 2007)
(except USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Throughout the film there are several different cartoon versions of Dennis that appears as graffiti. Each represents Dennis' state of mind at that point in the movie. The easiest one to see is right after Dennis has the fight with Gordon. He runs around the corner and leans against a wall then slowly sinks to the ground. Behind him on the wall is a cartoon Dennis hanging from a tree representing his lowest ebb in the movie.
Goofs:
Continuity:
In the picture of Dennis and Libby at the Halloween party the wall behind them is plain white, but during the scene where the picture was supposedly taken the wall behind them is brick.
Quotes: Gordon:
Hey do you think it would be weird if I took a bath?
[pause]
Gordon:
Yeah... that would be weird.
User Review
Enjoyable silliness
Rating: 7/10
Occasionally when editors send reviewers a list of new and upcoming
films, a kind a war-weariness can set in: even more so when one's gut
feeling suggests an obvious divide between worthwhile cinema and the
barrage of rather missable comedy. Even more so when a film in question
has not risked journalistic censure by having an advance press
screening. I am not one of the many people who thrilled excitedly to
Simon Pegg's efforts in Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. And I was even
less impressed the last time he joined forces with David Schwimmer in
Big Nothing. So it was with a feeling almost of self-sacrifice that I
volunteered to sit through Run, Fat Boy, Run. Which doesn't even have
car chases or zombies to recommend it.
The surprise was that it is actually quite good.
Simon Pegg studied drama at university but earned his spurs in working
life as a stand-up comedian. Which perhaps explains why his timing is
so split-second perfect. The gags in Run, Fat Boy, Run are not that
remarkable. At times you can even see them coming. But the performance
and skillful delivery is so polished that they are entertaining anyway.
Run, Fat Boy, Run uses a formula that has served Pegg and his growing
fan base well: he is the nerd who eventually turns hero. We feel sorry
for him, irritated by him, repelled by him. He's the well-meaning
hopeless case we just want to 'fix'. So the audience is relieved and
rooting for him by the time he makes good. We are fully behind him by
the time he makes his resolve that he is "sick of being a
'nearly-man'." In this present incarnation, Pegg (Dennis) has an attack
of nerves just before getting married. He runs out on his gorgeous
wife-to-be Libby (played by Thandie Newton) - literally - running off
as she stands in the road in full bridal dress. And pregnant.
Five years later, Dennis is working as a security guard at a women's
clothing store. The predictable jokes are spoon-fed us faultlessly.
Pegg rescues any situation that threatens to become too silly by a look
of open sincerity (rather like Ricky Gervais does with political
humour). But Pegg seems to have an instinctual grasp of cinema that
enables him to extract the best results from his material. On a hot
Saturday afternoon, and with strong competition from much publicised
movies, the auditorium was fairly packed.
The second theme from the film's title comes from Dennis' decision to
run the London marathon. This is mostly to 'prove' something to Libby
(for whom he has now discovered undying love) but also to win a bet for
his mates and to prove himself equal to Libby's super-fit, super-rich,
super-handsome suitor, Whit. His five-year old son provides the magic
glue to pull all the elements of the story together.
In a wise choice, the filmmakers avoid anything that might belittle the
Marathon (given that many UK viewers may have a deep respect for the
institution). But they also bring in much underused and very photogenic
shots of London en-route - particularly the Docklands area.
With such a vanilla story line, Run, Fat Boy, Run is relying on Pegg's
reputation to pull in audiences. I suspect that many of his fans may be
occasional movie-goers who simply demand something light and untaxing.
He has the ability to make a futile chase after stolen women's
underwear amusing. When he seems to be rubbing himself off against a
shop mannequin it could be a pathetic or tacky sketch in any other
hands, but his wide-eyed expression and fast pacing move us from one
joke to the next before we have time to analyse.
I wasn't bored. And I had expected to be. In fact I was laughing
loudly. It reminded me of when JM Barrie had planted children in the
audience of his first performance of Peter Pan. It helps to be in the
company of people who see the joke. Run, Fat Boy, Run has not made me a
convert to Pegg's brand of humour even if I enjoyed the film, but I
have to admit that he is good at his job. Sometimes it is the
difference between a sterile press screening and an audience of fans.
On this occasion, marketing gets the benefit of the doubt.
0